More about Hacienda Tres Rios
Will be true 5-star when finished
by TripAdvisor Member meredithj
I am giving Hacienda Tres Rios a 5-star rating because I truly believe it will be a 5-star resort when finished (maybe in June 2009?). I stayed for 3 nights, Dec 4-7 2008 on a complimentary travel agent rate. Our transfers were great through USA Transfers- friendly and professional. I would recomment USA Transfers to anyone, and I will definitely use them again. Tres Rios is about 45 minutes from Cancun International Airport. Upon arrival, it is apparent that the resort is still under a lot of construction. This did not bother me as I was aware of this before booking my trip, but I can see how it could be a shock to some visitors since it does not mention this on their website (http://www.haciendatresrios.com). We were greeted with special drinks and were lead to our room. The rooms are beautiful and clean. They look the same as the photos on their website. Stocked fridge with cold waters, sodas and beers. We had no problems with the flat-screen TV in our room, as other reviewers had. As soon as we arrived, we ordered room service which is included in the all-inclusive plan. The food was fantastic! I would definitely recommend the coconut shrimp. After lunch we walked around the resort and grounds. The beach is beautiful- I cannot sea how anyone could say the water is black, or the beach was dirty. The sand was powdery soft and the water was beautiful. The pools were beautiful but too cold. We swam a few times to have some fun, but I had to get out after a few minutes to warm up. I don't feel this was the fault of the resort, the weather was just a little chilly that weekend. When we were there the only restaurants open were the main buffet and the Mexican restaurant on the second floor, but you can order food at the pool (we got burgers and nachos- delicious!!) and drinks. The main buffet has amazing food! Ribs, chicken parm, shrimp and steak skewers, spinach mashed potatos, lots of fresh fruit and veggies. The desserts were also great! My boyfriend and I would just go up and get a plate with one of everything and share it. We went to the Mexica restaurant for a late lunch and were a little dissapointed because it was also buffet (I'm sure this has changed now that it's been almost a month). One night in the main buffet they had an Italian Theme with an opera singer, and another night they had Caribbean Theme, with a Caribbean band. A few nights they had a saxaphone player in the lobby which was very nice to relax by the Christmas tree and listen to. There is not much to do at the resort, but we did take a snorkel/kayak tour which is very fun. It is great for beginners, the tour guides are very easy going and friendly. Another day we did the bike tour which was somewhat boring, but was fun to have something to do. We took a taxi to Playa Del Carmen ($15USD plus tip) and had a lot of fun shopping. The service at Hacienda Tres Rios is fantastic. Everyone is eager to please and very friendly. Oscar, the head chef, is an amazing guy- very friendly and professional. He approached us many times in the main restaurant letting us know he will make us anything we want if we do not see it. There was a sushi demonstration on the deck by the river, and he stayed for a long time after answering questions about sushi and other food, as well as taking pictures with some guests! He definitely contributes a lot to this resort.
Be aware that if you take the snorkeling/kayak tour that they request you only ue biodegradable sunscreen. We did not know this and had to buy some in Playa Del Carmen for $12USD, which we used once and had to throw away at the airport since we only had carry-ons.
I think I have covered everything. I would recommend waiting until next spring/summer to stay at this resort as it is not finished and it seem like they are still fixing a few things. Everything is brandnew and beautiful- great pools, beach, delicious food, great staff, beautiful rooms etc. I would love to go back next summer to see what it is like finished. If you have any questions, I would love to answer them so please feel free to contact me through Trip Advisor or my email meredithj@accenttravel.com
This hotel was just not ready to be open
by TripAdvisor Member att284
We visited Hacienda Tres Rios from December 7th thru 14th, about 6 weeks after the resort opened.
Reservations: We reserved a full week vacation through RCI and had written confirmation of our exchange. Before we traveled to Mexico, we called the hotel several times to determine how much of the resort was completed. We were NEVER given a direct answer - in fact, were told (by RCI and Hacienda Tres Rios) that several of the restaurants were open and that most of the hotel was complete.
Arrival and check-in: Per RCI, we were supposed to receive free transportation from the airport to the resort - once we arrived at the airport we needed to battle with the transportation service to actually get the transportation to the resort. When we finally arrived at the resort, Carlos (reception person) told us that they had no reservation for us. Since the hotel was empty, he was able to find a suite for us. Several hours later, Carlos advised us that he did find our reservation, however it was for 5 days, not the full week. We were advised that we needed to pay for the 2 extra days at the rack room rate. This prompted our first long-distance call to RCI!! Carlos continued to hound us to pay......it was rude and unprofessional to harrass us to pay without attempting to straighten the confusion out with RCI. We spoke to our concierge who proceeded to tell us about the resort and pitch a timeshare presentation. We had to argue to bring the all-inclusive fees down to $108 plus tax = $120 per person per day. Keep in mind that this was for only one restaurant open full-time and the majority of other all-inclusive amenities (gym, spa, watercraft, climbing wall, zip-line, and many activities all unavailable)
Room #1 - We got two rooms side by side on the 1st floor near some of the construction. The entire room and all furnishings were covered in dust! By nightfall, my wife and mother-in-law were having asthma attacks from the construction dust coming under the 1 inch gap under the door. Not to mention the wildlife! In addition, we had to wait 2 hours for a crib to arrive for my son.
Front Desk - When we requested to switch rooms, Carlos, the peson at the desk told us that they were fully booked. When I pressed him and said my wife was getting sick, magically another room was available. The entire family needed to repack and move at 9:30pm.
Room #2 - was cleaner - it was 2 floors up from the previous room. However, there were missing DVD players and a funky smell from the A/C that they needed to spend 3 separate days attempting to fix. In addition, the A/C did not work for the first 5 days of our stay. Also, there is a decorative window in the master bedroom that has no curtain on it - at night there is no privacy.
Pools and Beach - Pools were not heated as they advertised. None of the pools were warm enough to swim comfortably. You were not allowed to fish or take out sailboats.
Property overall - lots of construction going on - noise during the day. No equestrian center as advertised and most of the recreational activities you are paying for are not available. The landscaping is immature as one would expect from a new property. Seveal of the bridges and walkways necessary for travel around the property were still under construction and closed.
Food - As a vegetarian, I was disappointed at the prepared selections of items I could eat. Chef Oscar was amazing and made pretty much what I wanted. I would have liked, however, to simply go up the the buffet and sample all of the creatively prepared dishes all of the non-vegetarian guests could enjoy. Chef Pablo and Luis (server) were also great. Room service was slow, food was cold, and often miscommunication caused errors in orders. Drink quality was sporadic.
Transportation - When we were arrived we were told that with 24 hours notice, we could get transportation to Cancun or Playa del Carmen from the hotel van. This was NOT the case. Half the time, the van was not available.
If you are a family traveling with young children -- TAKE NOTE --
When we arrived were told they had no high chairs. It took 3 days and many strongly worded conversations...... and then they only got one high chair (there were 3 babies at the resort at the time). For the entire "family vacation" the family needed to eat in shifts.....since the baby was unable to eat in the dining room due to lack of a high chair. I managed to get one just for the room, but I thought this was ridiculous. I did speak to the Customer Relations manager about this and she apologized for the delay. In addition, the construction created many dangerous areas for children.....exposed wires, incomplete walkways, and construction rubble could present dangers to the little ones!
OVERALL, this resort is beautiful and they try to make you comfortable. It seems that the staff tries to do their best to make up for all of the problems of the resort. It seems unfair that this resort opened much earlier than it should have....and the employees are left to fight all of the battles that have surfaced from the resort's lack of preparedness. For the price, it is not worth the hassle of fighting all of these battles. I felt like half of my vacation was spent arguing with the concierge/front desk/management. It seems that the main reason this resort is open is to parade dozens of prospective timeshare owners through it. Give this resort 3 years and try again (maybe).
Not a Five Star
by TripAdvisor Member BreezeCalifornia
I returned from Tres Rios three weeks ago and the resort has about 6 months of construction before completion. The resort is beautiful nestled in jungle along the Caribbean Sea. Rooms are nice with a ocean view. Beds are comfortable. There are no alarm clocks available. We did ask for one but they never got back to us. Housekeeping did a good job in general but did not replace the used plates & cups daily. There were no ice machines working yet, each day we had to call for ice and wait awhile. We were disappointed the gym and spa were not open in fact the framework to the building was in process. Only ate one night at the buffet and the Lobster was over cooked and the meat undercooked. There were only 2 restaurants open along with the sports bar and outside pool bar. The activities were limited. Tthe cooking, wine tasting and martini activities were fun. There were only about 50 guest at the resort and the majority of them were travel agents or travel review writers. Alot of attention was given to them leaving out the real paying guest. They even closed down the main restaurant to cater to them. Becareful a guest tripped at the side end of the main lobby steps were the marble meets the cement . The area is uneven when the guest tripped the Bellmen outside didn't even ask it if she was okay. I noticed the next day a yellow cone was placed over the area. Hopefully it has been fixed. The staff at Tres Rios are hard workers trying to understand and please guest. The management is very poor we spent 4 hours of our vacation time trying to get our bill straighten out. As stated in one of the other reviews the staff has no guidance from any upper management. We never saw a General Manager during our stay. One would expect since the resort has only been open for a short time there should be a strong presence of G.M. for several months. This hotel may look like a 5 star resort when finished but there is alot of management and staff training to do.
Great Resort will be very nice when finished
by TripAdvisor Member PamBAccenttravel
I went there as a travel agent to experience the resort. It is a beautiful resort but still has construction going and only 1 restaurant that we were able to eat at each day. We had room service for 2 nights, which wasgreat. The food is wonderful and the staff and service is terrific. I would say in few months it will be better equipped for guests, as there is no entertainment, childrens programs,etc. at this time.
The pools were open and kept very clean but still little details of finish work was going on as we were there around the pool area. There are still a few buildings they are working on so a lot of construction workers walking about, as well as, hammering, etc. but in such a beautiful setting it was worth the noise. The beach is gorgeous and has a long pier that you can walk out on.
I think this will be an upscale eco friendly resort when it is complete. I really think the staff was the best and the grounds are beautiful in the jungle setting. You do feel very remote but Playa Del Carmen is just about a 15 minute cab ride away.
I would stay at this resort again but since there were only abut 50 people staying there it was not a true test of all the resort will have to offer in the coming months. I do want to say the staff really went out of their way to please us.
All said it was a good experience but I would want to wait about 4-6 months before I would send my best clients there.
Will recommend if....
by TripAdvisor Member Daalo
Through RCI reserved our stay for this hotel and overall had a good experience.
We knew not everything would be ready. They have a legend in their web site mentioning it, however RCI is not telling you that, I had to visit their web page and call the hotel. So no surprises on that side.
However there are a couple of things I would recommend to the Management (if there is any as we never talked with the General Manager, nor any of the other guests staying there did, we asked). They have a very nice Public Relations girl Angelica that tries to please everybody but sometimes you want to talk with the Manager. It would be a good practice if he showed up from time to time and get feed back from their guests.
1) Get rid of all the useless seudo concierges at the lobby. Looks like there are some for the RCI and timeshare services that give wrong information and try to get you to go to their lengthy presentation. They don't wear any of the nice uniforms the hotel has and they look tacky. The only ones we finally used were the hotel's and Angelica.
2) Don't allow the owners' body guards use the lobby as their living room. They are scary characters. We saw them seating by the lobby and you could see by their attitude that they were either goons or body guards. I didn't allow my daughters around the area until I was sure they were not there anymore. Same thing with the timeshare people, assign them and area where they do their job but don't bother other people. They act as if they owned the place. What a shame, such a beautiful lobby and you want to avoid it.
3) We wanted to go on our own on a bike tour and could not. Only on a guided tour. Need more bikes. Same thing with the kayaks.
4) Great food but need more vegetarian selections. We loved salads and these were limited.
I would recommend the hotel but they have to fix these things Check with them before going down.
Wonderful Honeymoon!!
by TripAdvisor Member Sarles
We had a very good experience at this resort. It was beautiful, and the staff was very, very friendly. We especially had good experiences with one of the waiters in the main restaurant, Alberto, who was extremely courteous and helpful, always working hard and always smiling. Juan Carlos took care of our housekeeping in the room and did a fantastic job all week, leaving us friendly notes and making the most adorable towel characters for us on the bed! Overall, a great trip, the food was very good, the head chef Oscar was always on hand and obiously took a great deal of pride not just in the restaurants but the resort as a whole. The only downfall was that the resort was not yet 100% complete, but by the time it is finished it will be unbelievable. We would highly recommend to anyone.
Fabulous family vacation!
by TripAdvisor Member Soli09
From the moment we arrived, we were greeted with champagne. Our room was so beautiful, with an amazing view of the ocean and pools. The weather was just perfect every day. The restaurants all served very good food. The grill and pizza restaurants out by the pool were great. The service throughout the hotel was great. The buffet and 24 hour room service was great. The restaurant we only went once for New Years and they had Mariachi music, we had a wonderful dinner all 4 off us, the dishes were especially beautiful. They had a big party that evening with play money casino, live band, dancing and an amazing firework show that we watched while on the pier. We took all the tours they had to offer: Bicycle riding, Cenote Tour snorkeling, swimming, & kayaking. We even went to the cooking classes on how to make Mole & Healthy dressings. My husband went to a towel folding class and made an elephant. We took a courtesy shuttle to one of there sister hotels in Playa Del Carmen to Fisherman. We shopped and got to see some very old Mayan ruins. Our family would just like to say Thank You for making this all possible. We will remember this trip forever.
It will be nice in the future
by TripAdvisor Member faguilare
The resort is too new (it opened mid November 2008) to pretend everything should be the way we, and probably the resort manager, would like. Here are my comments:
1. The food is VERY good in the main restaurant. Not so good in the Reservations Only restaurant which among other things, is a little bit dull.
2. The rooms are OK (I stayed in 1208 and 1209 for my twin daughters). They try hard to keep them clean and everything working properly.
3. By far, the resort's best asset is its people. All of them are very kind. It shows they are well trained to please their customers and they do it with grace and good will.
4. The beach is not good. It has a lot of debris from the two small creeks in the property, although when we were about to live, they started to clean it. I guess it will take a lot of time and money to succeed, but considering the size of the project, I believe they will achieve the task.
5. Activities are so far limited, since a lot of their plans are still ongoing. The gym was being temporarily set up in a couple of rooms, no tennis court, no climbing wall, no night shows, no kayaks at the beach, etc., and there is no access to motorized wave runners or sail boats or parasailing close by.
6. The hotel is secluded from any other facility and it’s about 6 or 7 miles from Playa del Carmen. The taxi charged about US$30 to take you there and bring you back.
7. There are very few umbrellas and chairs by the see, but except December 31, we always find a spot.
8. Never the less, I will try going back at the hotel in about six months. If they do what they say they will, it will be a very nice place to stay.
Great vacation. Have to stay there
by TripAdvisor Member kobichenkod
We came back from Riviera Maya after staying 5 days at this great hotel. We really had a blast and would recommend it to everybody. The service is fantastic, hotel employees are always eager to help. More than anything we enjoyed the snorkeling and kayaking in river. It was a really fun thing to do and you can only do it here. You go through the mangroves and you feel you are in contact with nature. Wow! Food is also great, they have a very good variety. During our stay we had japanese, Mexican (gourmet, not the tacos we see in Taco Bell), italian. I could go on and on. Just want to say it was great.
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